Friday, November 05, 2004

RAMADI, Iraq : Six British and American troops were killed in Iraq over the last 24 hours as the US military battered the flashpoint city of Fallujah with air strikes ahead of an expected all-out assault.

A suicide car bomb and mortar fire at a checkpoint killed three newly redeployed British soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter on Thursday.

The attack happened as troops from the Black Watch regiment crossed for the first time to the east bank of the River Euphrates, southwest of Baghdad.

Eight British soldiers were also injured in the first major incident since several hundred of them were moved from southern Iraq to more dangerous areas near Baghdad to relieve US troops preparing for an offensive in Fallujah.

"We always knew that there were risks involved in these engagements, but this is for the Iraqi people," Britain's Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said, when breaking the news of the combat deaths.

"Is it a price worth paying? Well, the Iraqis are the best judge of that."

Two US marines also died "in action" and four were injured in Al-Anbar province west of the Iraqi capital, where the rebel hotspots of Fallujah and Ramadi are located, the US military said.

Another US soldier was killed and one wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb on Thursday night north of Baghdad.

Seventy-three British troops have died in Iraq since US-led forces invaded the country in March 2003, 34 of them in combat, while the latest US deaths brought to 1,121 the number of US military personnel killed since the invasion.

Violence is expected to increase in the battered country following US President George W. Bush's election win earlier this week.

Flushed with victory, Bush declared Thursday Iraq was on the "path to stability" but said he had not decided whether to boost troop levels there ahead of national elections promised in January.

US-backed Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has pledged to crush pockets of resistance before the polls, and in recent weeks US troops have massed around the insurgent strongholds of Fallujah and nearby Ramadi amid mounting expectations of a double-pronged assault.

In a continuing barrage on the rebel bastion, US war planes launched five air strikes against suspected insurgent positions in Fallujah in the last 24 hours.

"Iraqi security forces and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force continue to degrade and disrupt anti-Iraqi (insurgent) forces in the Fallujah-Ramadi area," a military statement said.

Starting at 4:40 pm (1340 GMT) Thursday and ending at 1:10 am Friday, planes supporting US marines on the ground destroyed suspected rebel fortifications and a weapons cache in the southeast and northern Fallujah, it said.

Since Monday, Multi-National Forces-West have also captured and destroyed large numbers of mortars, rockets and other explosives.

In Ramadi, the capital city of Al-Anbar province, a marine operation discovered and disarmed a youth centre that had been rigged with explosives and found more that two tons of explosives hidden in a mosque.

"The discoveries were made during a sweep of the city looking for improvised explosive devices," the military said in a separate statement.

Fifty suspected insurgents were also netted in the sweep, it added.

Thousands of residents have fled Fallujah since the US military began a campaign of air strikes during the summer in the hunt for Islamic militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his followers who are believed to use the city as an operating base.

Zarqawi, a Jordanian national who is Iraq's most wanted man, is blamed for some of the worst bombings and kidnappings in the country since last year's US-led invasion.

A funeral was held in southern Japan on Friday for one of Zarqawi's victims, 24-year-old backpacker Shosei Koda, who was beheaded after being kidnapped by militants in Baghdad last month.
Channelnewsasia.com

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Prayers and tears in Falluja

Reminders of how some troops weren't always as safe as they assured their mothers.

Reminders of how excited a father was to see the baby he'll never hold.

Reminders of homecoming plans that gave way to heartbreak.

Along with the pain, though, the letters from those who died in Iraq can bring a smile. A soldier refers to his wife with a pet name. A Marine asks about the Cubs. Again and again, troops tell family and friends how much they love them.

In today's edition of Life, the magazine publishes some of those letters. Grown children thanking their parents. A father's message to his family that he wanted opened only if he died.

Here are some stories from local soldiers and Marines.

One is Army 1st Lt. Doyle Hufstedler, who wrote to his wife, Leslie, before he was killed by a roadside bomb. Six weeks later, their daughter, Gracie, was born.

Next week, Gracie will be 6 months old. Leslie already shows her pictures of the baby's father. Someday, when the baby can understand, Leslie will put the letters in a scrapbook.

For now, she keeps them in a shoebox.

And in her heart.

In his letters, Hufstedler called his wife "Love Bug," a silly name he stole from her. Once, after they hadn't talked for a while, one of her letters arrived from south Charlotte. He told her he read it behind a building to hide his tears.

Charlotte Observer | 11/05/2004 | Letters that live forever

Reminders of how some troops weren't always as safe as they assured their mothers.

Reminders of how excited a father was to see the baby he'll never hold.

Reminders of homecoming plans that gave way to heartbreak.

Along with the pain, though, the letters from those who died in Iraq can bring a smile. A soldier refers to his wife with a pet name. A Marine asks about the Cubs. Again and again, troops tell family and friends how much they love them.

In today's edition of Life, the magazine publishes some of those letters. Grown children thanking their parents. A father's message to his family that he wanted opened only if he died.

Here are some stories from local soldiers and Marines.

One is Army 1st Lt. Doyle Hufstedler, who wrote to his wife, Leslie, before he was killed by a roadside bomb. Six weeks later, their daughter, Gracie, was born.

Next week, Gracie will be 6 months old. Leslie already shows her pictures of the baby's father. Someday, when the baby can understand, Leslie will put the letters in a scrapbook.

For now, she keeps them in a shoebox.

And in her heart.

In his letters, Hufstedler called his wife "Love Bug," a silly name he stole from her. Once, after they hadn't talked for a while, one of her letters arrived from south Charlotte. He told her he read it behind a building to hide his tears. cont..

Record-Courier - News-Valley woman working to be many soldiers' angel

Sarolta Green's son was in Tikrit with the 4th Infantry Division last year when she learned about Soldier's Angels, an organization begun by Gen. George Patton's great-grandniece.

"When you join you commit to writing to and sending packages to a soldier," she said. "I ended up with a platoon because my adoptee was a first sergeant. He said 'personally, I'm quite squared away, but there are 16 other guys in the platoon who could use some healthy snacks."

The Johnson Lane resident said she checked with Raley's in Carson City, who provided her with Clif Bars for 10 percent over cost.

"I shipped them 16 boxes," she said. "I sent my son a personal thermos mug. He treasured that thing."

For her next effort, she called a local manufacturer, which donated 320 cups but asked to remain anonymous.

Green then contacted headquarters at Camp Sather near Baghdad, where she was told the commander set the task that every of the 691 soldiers in the unit get a wrapped gift for Christmas.

"I'll have to get a few more by Christmas, but I'm in sales, I can handle it," she said.

However, success in gathering the materials has resulted in one difficulty - getting them to Iraq.

"Covering shipping is going to be a biggie," she said.

Marsha Tomerlin of Coldwell Banker Itildo is covering about a quarter of the cost, but Green is seeking donations to help pay for the rest.

Anyone interested in donating money to the cause, can call Green at 450-5825.

She is seeking a grant from Wal-Mart to help provide gifts for families of soldiers who are overseas. She asks that anyone knowing of a family contact her.

Most people who contact Soldier's Angels just have one soldier to send something to.

"It was completely voluntary on my part to take on this large group," she said. "Ninty-nine percent of people who sign up at soldiersangels.com adopt an individual soldier who they send mail to regularly."

According to soldiersangels.com, Patti Patton-Bader started Soldier's Angels from her bed after getting a message from her son that some soldiers in his unit were not receiving support from home.

According to the Web site, 12,000 people are helping more than 9,000 military members in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world.

The organization is distributing care packs to wounded soldiers, which among other things contains a handmade blanket with the name of the person who sewed it. Green encouraged people who enjoy sewing to participate in this program.

For more information:

Call Sarolta Green at 450-5825 or visit www.soldiersangels.com.

The Record-Courier is shipping cards, letters and gifts to the troops this holiday season. Anyone wishing to participate may drop off materials at The Record-Courier, Johnson Lane General Store, Northwest Martial Arts, Carson Valley Inn, PJ's Liquor and Topaz Lodge.

U.S. Seals Off Iraq's Falluja

U.S. Seals Off Iraq's Falluja
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Posted 11-05-2004 10:16:36 (GMT 11-5-2004 16:16:36) Printer Friendly Email This Link Send to Printer
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FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) -- The U.S. military has blocked roads around Falluja and mounted fresh air strikes on parts of the rebel-held Iraqi city ahead of a major offensive to crush insurgents.

Witness on Friday said insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and mortars at U.S. troops who were shelling from around the eastern and southeastern edges of the city.

Hospital officials said they were waiting for clashes to ease before sending out ambulances. Overnight air strikes had killed three people and wounded four, they said. There was no immediate word from the U.S. military on the latest clashes.

It said earlier its warplanes had mounted five strikes on rebel targets in Falluja within seven hours overnight, hitting an arms cache, a rebel command post and other targets.

Residents said five houses were destroyed.

They said troops had sealed off all roads in and out of the Sunni Muslim city of 300,000 people as U.S. Marines prepared for a full assault designed to crush the rebels before nationwide elections in January.

U.S. Marines say they are awaiting orders from U.S. President George W. Bush and Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who is visiting Europe, before storming Falluja and Ramadi, another Sunni city and rebel stronghold west of Baghdad.

U.S. Tells Civilians to Flee Rebel Iraqi City: "U.S. troops urged civilians to fleeFalluja on Friday and launched air strikes on the rebel cityahead of an assault seen as critical to attempts to pacify Iraqbefore January elections. (Reuters)"

Allawi Warns Fallujah Rebels of Deadline: "Insurgents killed two American Marines and wounded four others in fighting west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Friday, as Iraq's prime minister warned that the "window is closing" for a peaceful settlement to avert a mass assault on the insurgent-held city of Fallujah. (AP)"

Three British soldiers killed in Iraq; U.S. prepares for assault: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three British soldiers were killed and eight were wounded in a suicide bomb and mortar barrage south of Baghdad just days after they gave up the relative safety of southern Iraq for the more dangerous mission of helping U.S. troops in violence-wracked central Iraq."

Brothers In Arms: "On Friday's The Early Show, co-anchor Harry Smith reports on two soldiers who both lost their legs within hours of arriving in Iraq. They have helped and inspired each other through their long and difficult recoveries."

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 4 -- He wants to get back into the fight, but Dennis Astor has to first work up the courage to go outside by himself at night.

"That's the only thing that bothers me," said the 22-year-old U.S. Navy hospital corpsman 3rd class, who was injured five days ago when a suicide bomber blew up next to his military convoy, killing eight Marines and injuring nine others. "I'm just afraid my friends are going to pop up outside, and I'll see them, see my dead friends."

Astor, a medic with the Marine Battalion Landing Team 13 based in Kaneohe, Hawaii, was recuperating Thursday in a ward of the Bravo Surgical Company hospital at a Marine outpost not far from where his convoy was attacked.

While two of his injured platoon members played a video game, "Ghost Recon," Astor, a slight sailor with a baby face pocked with scabs, stretched out on a cot, his radio tuned to a U.S. music station. His left arm, with second-degree burns, was cradled in a green sling and his forehead was stitched where doctors had removed a piece of shrapnel.

"I think there might still be a piece in there," Astor said, rubbing his index finger across the stitches.

Like the rest of the Marine outpost, this field hospital is preparing for a potential battle in Fallujah, which insurgents have controlled for six months. A few days ago, Marines unloaded racks of body bags, and the staff at the hospital has more than doubled so it can handle one of the few near certainties in any upcoming operation: There will be casualties.

The hospital has three operating rooms to handle the wounded and a mortuary affairs unit that handles those killed in action. "Wounded and angels coming in," said Cmdr. Loch Noyes, a general surgeon at the hospital. "That's our abbreviation."

On a busy day, the hospital handles nearly 30 casualties, including Iraqi civilians and insurgents who are wounded in clashes with American forces. Doctors expect the number to double during an offensive, said Capt. Eric Lovell, an emergency medicine physician.

Unfortunately, he said, "if we build it, they will come, and we're building for it."

On Thursday afternoon, medics brought in two Marines and an American photographer who were injured when a roadside bomb blew up as their light armored vehicle passed during a patrol near Fallujah. None of the injuries was life-threatening.

The photographer, Stephanie Kuykendal, 28, of St. Louis, who was working for Corbis, a photo agency, was the first journalist injured in the lead-up to the possible offensive. Kuykendal, whose photographs have appeared in The Washington Post, was embedded with a Marine unit when the attack occurred. She was injured in her face and mouth and evacuated by helicopter to a military hospital in Baghdad. The Marines, whose identities were withheld by the military, suffered burns.

Noyes, the surgeon, said doctors at the field hospital mostly do "damage control."

"We do what we can to stop the bleeding," he said. "All we're trying to do is stop them from dying."

The stress can take its toll, doctors and nurses at the hospital said. But "there is a job to be done," Noyes added.